First published by The Telegraph on 24 March 2017

“Any Prime Minister, particularly a woman Prime Minister, ought to give a boost to the [fashion] industry,” said Margaret Thatcher in a 1985 interview with British Vogue. “First of all it gives publicity: if people like the clothes you are wearing they might come and buy here.”

The duty for a PM — “particularly a woman Prime Minister” — to talk British fashion is a thorny issue for our current leader, Theresa May. With her appearance in American Vogue this month, wearing homegrown brands L.K Bennett and Egg, she’s made a nod to it — but no one would call the piece a fashion interview.

In fact, in a sprawling 4000-word feature in the world’s most prominent style magazine, this is all May said on the topic: “Look, throughout my political career, people have commented on what I wear. That’s just something that happens, and you accept that. But it doesn’t stop me from going out and enjoying fashion. And I also think it’s important to be able to show that a woman can do a job like this and still be interested in clothes.”

There was no discussion of the industry, no shout-out to favoured British designers; she wore only two outfits in the accompanying Annie Leibovitz photo shoot, and they were decidedly understated. It’s not a leap to assume that a decision was taken beforehand: keep the fashion to a minimum.

One can't blame May for that. Only a few months ago, she was widely and voraciously criticised for wearing £995 Amanda Wakeley trousers in a newspaper shoot, with the argument being that the outfit made her look like an insensitive Marie-Antoinette type. Male politicians may wear very expensive suits, but the world doesn't pay much attention; because she's a woman, May's wardrobe has always been a hot topic.

In 2014, research by Oxford Economics found that the fashion industry provides 880,000 jobs in the UK. Thatcher was right that any PM has a responsibility to champion it; she herself was photographed four times by British Vogue, and spoke at length on the topic. She explained what her mother, a dressmaker, had taught her; she talked about what she was doing to boost British fashion.

In 1985 she outlined, in a rather tactless way, the different kinds of design being done in the UK: “At the reception I gave last year, I noticed that buyers from all over the world were particularly interested in the clothes our young designers were making for young people. If there's a demand for young designers and their work, fine, then we will fill it. I was obviously more interested in the elegant clothes. The publicity was given to the outré, which didn't interest me at all. That didn't matter — the buyers bought them and that helped trade.”

Male PMs have also dutifully spoken about clothes, but often in a self-conscious, apologetic way. In 2006, while being shown around the Fashion Retail Academy, then-PM Tony Blair said, “I am not known for my fashion sense. When I wore a particular brand of swimming trunks one year, the sales then collapsed."

David Cameron made a slightly more convincing effort in 2013, announcing at the launch of the London menswear shows that "As far as I'm concerned, fashion is not some add on — it is not some accessory to British economic policy. You are absolutely at the heart of the vision that this government has." But for the most part, it was his designer wife, Samantha Cameron, who showed up at fashion receptions and charmed the industry. We are yet to have (or expect) a male PM who could convincingly talk about the clothing business, or wear something that explicitly expressed their style — a Vivienne Westwood tartan suit, say, or red suede Russell & Bromley shoes.

The fact is, 30 years on from Thatcher's comments, the idea endures that a female PM has a special responsibility to reach out to the fashion industry. And while May is plainly interested in what she wears (see her oft-discussed shoes), she doesn't want to be drawn on the subject; perhaps she fears looking trivial. Supporting an industry close to your heart while appearing not to care too much is a difficult balance to strike, particularly when one is appearing in Vogue. On this, May cannot win — but she's not willing to surrender, either.